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Windows 7: This device cannot be used for ReadyBoost

I just got a Flash Voyager GTR, supposedly one of the fastest USB flash drives currently available (Corsair Flash Voyager GTR 32GB Review - Overclockers Club). However, when I measure it, using PC Wizard 2010, I get read/write measures in the order 600-900 kB/s, which is far from the advertised 24 MB/s. Also, when I put the flash disk into my laptop (Dell Precision M4400) I get told that "This device cannot be used for ReadyBoost" since it "does not have the required performance characteristics". ReadyBoost requires min 2.5 MB/s read speed.

Strange thing is, when I put the flash drive into a stationary Dell GX960, I immediately get asked if I want to speed up my system by using the flash drive for ReadyBoost. I simply don't understand what's going on here.

Is the drive formated for NTFS? If not, try formating to NTFS, see if that doesn't fix it.

A Guy

OK, thanks, will try.
However, still wouldn't tell me why the flash drive is ok on one computer but not the other...

Sorry, but you are going down the wrong path. For Ready Boost, flash drives have to be in Fat32.
As for the speed problem, I suggest you measure it with HD Tune and post the results here. Then we will see.

Is the drive formated for NTFS? If not, try formating to NTFS, see if that doesn't fix it.

A Guy

OK, thanks, will try.
However, still wouldn't tell me why the flash drive is ok on one computer but not the other...

Sorry, but you are going down the wrong path. For Ready Boost, flash drives have to be in Fat32.
As for the speed problem, I suggest you measure it with HD Tune and post the results here. Then we will see.

Alternatively, you can configure ReadyBoost by right-clicking the device in Windows Explorer, clicking Properties, and then clicking the ReadyBoost tab. The only configuration option is to configure the space reserved for the cache. You must reserve at least 256 MB. Larger caches can improve performance, but the ReadyBoost cache cannot be greater than 4 GB on a FAT32 file system or greater than 32 GB on an NTFS file system.

While I would agree to use Fat32 under normal circumstances, it was Corsair that suggests trying NTFS if the error message happens with FAT32 format. I'm not saying it would fix it, but it was a suggestion. The drive he has is actually the one most recommended for Ready Boost, so I am hoping that tezlewis has the correct fix.

I'm confused. I was under the impression that the ready boost cache is stored as a file. Therefore, you would have to format the media as NTFS or exFAT (kinda like a FAT64 for lack of a better description) if you want to use more than 4 GB of space for caching. I thought FAT16 and FAT32 impose file size limits of 2 and 4 GB respectively, and the OP said his USB is 32GB.

A Guy, I don't want to argue the formatting because NTFS is possible. But since the pages are written in 4KB blocks, Fat32 is optimal. At least that's what I think because those are the Fat32 blocksizes: 4KB 500MB-8GB, 8KB 8GB-16GB, 16KB 16GB-32GB, 32KB over 32GB

A Guy, I don't want to argue the formatting because NTFS is possible. But since the pages are written in 4KB blocks, Fat32 is optimal. At least that's what I think because those are the Fat32 blocksizes: 4KB 500MB-8GB, 8KB 8GB-16GB, 16KB 16GB-32GB, 32KB over 32GB

I wasn't arguing . I was replying to your post where you said "For Ready Boost, flash drives have to be in Fat32". The suggestion from the Corsair forum for a user with this exact drive that was showing that error was to format it as NTFS, which fixed the posters problem. Further research suggests the preferred option would be NTFS or exFAT. FAT32 is limited to a 4GB cache, whereas NTFS or exFAT can use 32GB. These are not my assumptions, but what I was able to glean from researching. In any case, I don't want to diverge from the original topic, so I will bow out. A Guy

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